Bank of America is accelerating plans to cut costs by laying off workers. According to the Wall Street Journal, the bank has set a target of cutting 16,000 jobs by the end of this year -- about 6 percent of the bank's workforce.

The big defense contractors -- including Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney -- say they may have to send out mass layoff notices to their employees in a few months. That's because they're worried that hundreds of billions of dollars in expected cuts to the Pentagon's budget will have a big effect on them.

This morning, the job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that the number of planned layoffs dropped last month to a 10-month low -- a good sign as we await unemployment numbers from the government tomorrow.